The Labyrinth's Gates
by Teslyn
Summary: The Labyrinth refuses to open its gates for any runners; it's sulking, and it's all Sarah's fault. drabble series
1. The Gates

**disclaimer; ** I don't own the Labyrinth, or any of its characters.

When the first runner after Sarah broke down into hysterical tears after two hours of alternately pleading with and making demands at the determinedly closed gates of the Labyrinth, Jareth thought nothing of it. Some people really _were_ just that weak – not everyone could be a Sarah Williams, after all.

When the second runner after Sarah spent three hours trying to coax the gates open, and the rest of the ten hours searching for an alternate entrance (that didn't exist), Jareth's opinion of mortal intelligence dropped drastically.

When the third runner after Sarah was trapped at the gates for two hours, Jareth grew suspicious and opened the gates himself. The runner, upon crossing the threshold of the Labyrinth, promptly fell into an oubliette.

When the fourth runner after Sarah was presented with an infinite number of gates to pass through before she could enter the Labyrinth proper, Jareth realized something had to be done.

The Labyrinth was clearly sulking.

And it was all Sarah's fault


	2. Tantrum

**disclaimer: don't own Labyrinth.**

It really was unfortunate that the Labyrinth had the maturity of a two-year-old; if it didn't get what it wanted, it threw a tantrum. And refusing to give anyone even the barest hint of a chance was definitely the sign of a tantrum.

Once Jareth saw the gates would not open for anyone, he started transporting runners into the Labyrinth instead of leaving them at the gates in an attempt to avoid calling on Sarah. (Her rejection of him still hurt, damnit, even if he refused to admit it).

The Labyrinth would have none of that sort of cheating, however, so nine times out of ten, runners would simply fall into oubliettes that had temporarily shifted itself for the sole purpose of catching the runner. No runner escaped without dozens of fairy bites, and the one time a runner managed to escape the oubliette... well, the cleaners were set on him with a vengeance.

And just to spite Jareth, the poisonous flowers in his personal garden began poisoning themselves.

Eight runners after Sarah later, all of whom failed spectacularly and two of whom forfeited the right to reclaim whoever they'd wished away within an hour of beginning, Jareth realized it was high time he - what was the mortal term? - manned up and paid a visit to one Sarah Williams.


	3. Soulmates

**disclaimer: don't own.**

"Sarah, I really think this proves we're soulmates. You sing just as beautifully as I do, you precious thing."

Nineteen-year-old Sarah Williams stiffened and abruptly dropped the bottle of shampoo-turned-microphone, startled at the voice. The shower was shut off (with a little more force than strictly necessary) in a heartbeat, and a single pale arm snaked out from behind the shower curtain to snatch a towel before she dared to peek out at the king who'd haunted her dreams for the past four years.

Her eyes only confirmed what her ears had initially suspected: how many people had that cultured accent? How many people could speak in an arrogant, self-assured tone that sent shivers up her spine?

Just one Goblin King, currently lounging against the bathroom wall, it would seem.

(Shiver-up-her-spine be damned. Sarah was pissed.)

"What the HELL are you doing in my _bathroom_!"


	4. The Wrong Foot

**disclaimer- don't own**

Perhaps he had started this little reunion off the wrong way.

As he intended to ask Sarah to return Underground (temporarily, of course, and only to mollify the Labyrinth – honest), Jareth figured it would be best to start them off on the right foot. Unfortunately, he was left-footed, so he twisted his wrist in a bit of quick thinking to rectify his mistake.

A crystal later found Sarah dry and fully clothed – but still pissed. (Jareth took a moment to reflect on just how comely she looked with her cheeks flushed like that. It was a real pity he'd had to dress her; Sarah had obviously grown up quite a bit.)

"Ah, precious thing, it's been too" –

"Cut the crap, Goblin King. You're in my _bathroom!_"

"Ah, yes. It would appear that way, wouldn't it?"

"Jareth, I swear I'm going to" –

"Whatever plans you have to have your way with me will have to wait," Jareth drawled, cutting her off. "The Labyrinth needs you. Desperately."


	5. Stupider

**disclaimer; don't own.**

Jareth found himself wishing something he'd never thought he'd wish: that Sarah were just a little bit stupider.

It obviously took a fair amount of intelligence (as well as courage and all those other plucky, heroine-y traits Sarah possessed) to not only survive but also best the Labyrinth. And on any other day, Jareth would have been willing to sit back and really appreciate his future queen – ahem – _Sarah_'s brilliance… but not now.

"Bullshit," Sarah snorted crossing her arms.

Jareth's peculiar eyes wandered to just above where her arms now were…

The Goblin King sighed. "Was I too melodramatic?" he queried, by way of asking how Sarah knew.

Sarah rolled those wonderfully green eyes of her, muttering "Melodramatic? _You_? Never!" under her breath in a decidedly sarcastic manner.

**author's note;**

i have to say, this makes me want to watch The Labyrinth all over again... i never thought i'd make a foray into labyrinth fandom, but here i am! any response on how i'm doing?


	6. Thirteen Minutes

**disclaimer; don't own the Labyrinth, much as I'd like to.**

"So why are you really here?" Sarah asked him suspiciously, her arms still crossed.

"Shouldn't we conduct a conversation this… delicate… elsewhere?" Jareth evaded, gesturing at the bathroom their stand-off was currently situated in.

Sarah flushed an angry red. Opening the door, she stalked out of the bathroom and reluctantly led her "guest" to her bedroom. Seating herself on her bed, she stared pointedly at the chair at her desk, the message abundantly clear: _sit there, and _not_ on my bed!_

Jareth chose not to push her. He took the offered seat, and somehow managed to make it look like he was lounging on a throne.

"All right, talk. You have thirteen minutes," Sarah said, laying down the rules. She was not about to take any chances – not with the Goblin King.


	7. The Same Thing

**disclaimer; I do not own the Labyrinth.**

"Very funny," the King of the Goblins conceded dryly. He sighed at Sarah's smirk. "Come now, precious thing, why the hostility? We both want the same thing."

"Oh really?" Sarah shot back. "You want to throw yourself in the Bog of Eternal Stench, too?"

"...Let me rephrase that. I am here on behalf of my Labyrinth, and _you_ and the Labyrinth share a common desire: you both want you to return."

"The Labyrinth _what?"_

Jareth kept his expression as neutral as possible. "I won't repeat myself, precious thing. My Labyrinth has made its wishes _crystal_ clear." A twist of his fingers later, a perfectly formed crystal was tucked between his two forefingers. He offered the crystal to her lazily. "Take a look, please. I'm not one for explanations."

He _was_ one for admiring her dark, silken brown hair, the delicacy that belied her inner strength as she leaned forward warily, and the apprehension mixed with a flash of suppressed desire as she reached out, movement slow and wary, to take the crystal.


	8. Three Minutes

**disclaimer; I don't own the Labyrinth.**

Jareth glanced at the swinging pendulum of grandfather clock half-hidden in the corner of Sarah's room.

Two minutes. Two _whole _minutes later, and Sarah was still curled up, unable to even speak. The forgotten crystal had rolled off her bed and dropped to the floor with a soft _clink_.

The Goblin King's mis-matched eyes never strayed from the clock as a third minute passed. It was now three long minutes that Sarah had been doubled up, _laughing_.

Jareth was feeling a little miffed.


	9. Price

**disclaimer; don't own Labyrinth!**

"P-price," Sarah gasped as her laughter finally subsided.

"Whatever do you mean, precious thing?" Jareth asked with all the innocence of a five-year-old who's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"What's the price of returning to your Labyrinth? Because if it's Toby, no chance." She was suddenly serious, watching the Goblin King for any reaction.

"Why do you assume there is a price?"

"Goblin King, with you, the question is never whether or not there's a price – there's always a price."

"You precious thing…" Jareth said fondly, irritated and amused at once. It seemed Sarah had grown even more intelligent. Damn. "There's no price this time – you'd be doing me a favor, and I'd be doing you one. Just a simple exchange."


	10. Gamble Made

**Disclaimer; don't own Labyrinth!**

Sarah eyed him suspiciously; she was trying to figure out if he was lying. Jareth could all but see the wheels spinning in her head as she searched for some loophole or any possibility that he could twist his words to his favor. It really was something, the way her brow furrowed like that…

"So there's no price?" She asked again.

"No price." (Just a gamble.) "Rest assured, precious thing, I haven't got any tricks up my sleeve." (A gamble that the Labyrinth had a few tricks up _its_ metaphorical sleeves.)

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it, Jareth. You have to swear you won't try to keep me Underground, too."

"I swear it, on my crown," Jareth replied easily, and truthfully. Afterall, _he_ didn't have to try to keep Sarah Underground when the Labyrinth itself would see to it.


	11. Missed You

**disclaimer; don't own.**

**author's note: people keep asking me why the chapters are short. i'm sure i put that this was a DRABBLE series _somewhere_. for those of you who don't know, a drabble is a 100 words or less. many of these "chapters" exceed 100 words, but i'm okay with that.**

Sarah took a leap of faith (which was a bit stupid of her, but Jareth was more than willing to go with it) and nodded her acceptance of the Goblin King's proposal to bring her back to the Labyrinth. For a short visit.

The King of the Goblins smiled a very sweet smile, extended his hand towards Sarah with a elaborate flourish, and whisked them away.

In the blink of an eye, the two stood before the Labyrinth's gates, and Jareth's suspicions that the Labyrinth _missed_ Sarah rather than it simply hating having lost to here were verified. The gates swung open faster than Jaerth thought possible, without so much as an ominous _creeaaaak_.

(Also, the poisonous flowers which had been killing themselves in his garden immediately developed an immunity to their own toxins and became healthy within a matter of seconds. Jareth checked.)


	12. Genius

**disclaimer: don't own Labyrinth.**

"Hoggle! Ludo! Sir Dydimus!" Sarah shouted, pleased.

In her joy, she didn't notice how the gates swung closed behind her, effectively shutting her in the Labyrinth once more.

Jareth noticed, and applauded the Labyrinth's tactics. Transporting her friends from wherever they had been in order to distract her? Genius.

(The Goblin King also happened to notice that the Labyrinth had quite literally taken Sarah's companions from whatever they had been doing: Hoggle rolled over and scratched his backside, drooling in his sleep until Sarah's call woke him with a start. Sir Dydimus was in the middle of chastising Ambrosius, stopping only when he realized the dog – ahem, trusty steed – was no longer there. And Ludo had been leaning up against something, as the moment he was set before Sarah, he fell over.)

"Sarah?" "My lady?" "Sawah!" the three greeted with varying degrees of surprise.


	13. Jealous?

**disclaimer: don't own Labyrinth.**

Sarah rushed forward, spreading her arms wide to wrap Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Dydimus in a group-hug.

Flower_s_ sprang through the cracks in the stone where she had stepped. _Flowers_. Jareth was both disgusted and insulted – the look he gave the Labyrinth was something between _have you no__ pride?_ and _I never got flowers in _my_ wake! _

Jealous? Him? Never.

The King was also forced to studiously ignore the way the flowers grew at an abnormally quick rate, wrapping themselves around the foursome and effectively joining in on their hug.

Jealous? Him? Never.

Well, maybe just a little.


	14. Garden of Eternal Delights

**Disclaimer: don't own the Labyrinth.**

In the Garden of Eternal Delights (a new section of the Labyrinth which had sprung up roughly about the time Sarah had arrived for her second time), Sarah bade her friends goodbye with promises of her return – after all, the Labyrinth had taken a shine to her, and its king had no choice but to bow to its will. (Actually, Jareth was free to overrule the Labyrinth at any time, but it was so much simpler to blame Sarah's soon-to-become-apparent inability to leave the Underground on his kingdom rather than his own desire for her to stay).

"Thank you for bringing me here, Jareth," Sarah said sincerely. "I hope you will allow me to return."

"But of course, precious thing!" the Goblin King assured her with grin that was a little too sweet, before offering her his hand with another flourishing bow.

In the blink of an eye and a puff of magic, the two found themselves standing exactly where they had been: in the center of the Garden of Eternal Delights.

"JARETH!"


	15. Gamble Lost

**disclaimer: don't own Labyrinth.**

"_Jareth!_ You said you would take me _home_!" Sarah shouted. "You _promised_ you wouldn't try to keep me here!"

"I did promise that, didn't I?" Jareth asked rhetorically, in an airy, unconcerned tone of voice. He inspected an invisible patch of dirt on midnight-blue cloak, dusting it off before continuing. "Yes, well, _I_ am not keeping you here. You see, precious thing, when I made my promise I also I made a gamble, and it would seem that I-"_ won!_ "-lost. I gambled that the Labyrinth would allow you to leave at the end of your visit…" He shrugged, offering a baring of his teeth in a falsely sympathetic smile before brightening. "But now you'll just have to stay with me, in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City!"


	16. Maturity

**disclaimer: don't own labyrinth **

Four years ago, Sarah would have crossed her arms and stomped and shouted "It's not _fair_!" despairingly.

Now, however, was distinctly not four years ago and Sarah had matured greatly. Instead of throwing a silly little tantrum as she had done in the past, she turned to a delicate little cherry tree that decorated the Garden of Eternal Delights.

"Oh you adorable thing," she cooed at it in syrupy tones. "You're a precious Labyrinth, aren't you!" The tree, and every tree, bush, and weed within the general vicinity instantly threw out new buds that quickly grew into fruits or flowers. "Yes you are! But you know what would be _fabulous_, what would make me _so happy_? If you let me go home – " the Garden of Eternal Delights drooped " – and I'll come back and visit as soon as I can!" and then it straightened again, mollified.

Jareth decided he would have preferred the tantrum.


End file.
